Eyewear with shared gaze-responsive viewing

ABSTRACT

Eyewear providing an interactive augmented reality experience between two users of eyewear devices to perform a shared group task. During a shared group task session, each eyewear displays the same image. An eye tracker in each eyewear detects a portion of the image the respective user is gazing at. Each eyewear generates an indication of the portion of the respective image each eyewear user is gazing at. The indication is shared with the other eyewear, and the eyewear display indicates the portion of the image the other eyewear user is gazing at. This allows each eyewear user to see what the other user is gazing at when collaborating and visually observing the same image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 63/045,672 filed on Jun. 29, 2020, the contents of which areincorporated fully herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Examples set forth in the present disclosure relate to the field ofaugmented reality (AR) and wearable mobile devices such as eyeweardevices.

BACKGROUND

Many types of computers and electronic devices available today, such asmobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and laptops), handhelddevices, and wearable devices (e.g., smart glasses, digital eyewear,headwear, headgear, and head-mounted displays), include a variety ofcameras, sensors, wireless transceivers, input systems (e.g.,touch-sensitive surfaces, pointers), peripheral devices, displays, andgraphical user interfaces (GUIs) through which a user can interact withdisplayed content.

Augmented reality (AR) combines real objects in a physical environmentwith virtual objects and displays the combination to a user. Thecombined display gives the impression that the virtual objects areauthentically present in the environment, especially when the virtualobjects appear and behave like the real objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the various examples described will be readily understoodfrom the following detailed description, in which reference is made tothe figures. A reference numeral is used with each element in thedescription and throughout the several views of the drawing. When aplurality of similar elements is present, a single reference numeral maybe assigned to like elements, with an added lower-case letter referringto a specific element.

The various elements shown in the figures are not drawn to scale unlessotherwise indicated. The dimensions of the various elements may beenlarged or reduced in the interest of clarity. The several figuresdepict one or more implementations and are presented by way of exampleonly and should not be construed as limiting. Included in the drawingare the following figures:

FIG. 1A is a side view (right) of an example hardware configuration ofan eyewear device suitable for use in an augmented reality productionsystem;

FIG. 1B is a perspective, partly sectional view of a right corner of theeyewear device of FIG. 1A depicting a right visible-light camera, and acircuit board;

FIG. 1C is a side view (left) of an example hardware configuration ofthe eyewear device of FIG. 1A, which shows a left visible-light camera;

FIG. 1D is a perspective, partly sectional view of a left corner of theeyewear device of FIG. 1C depicting the left visible-light camera, and acircuit board;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are rear views of example hardware configurations of aneyewear device utilized in the augmented reality production system;

FIG. 2C illustrates detecting eye gaze direction;

FIG. 2D illustrates detecting eye position;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of a three-dimensional scene, a leftraw image captured by a left visible-light camera, and a right raw imagecaptured by a right visible-light camera;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an example augmented realityproduction system including a wearable device (e.g., an eyewear device)and a server system connected via various networks;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an example hardwareconfiguration for a mobile device of the augmented reality productionsystem of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6A illustrates a virtual scene displayed by eyewear operated by afirst user A in a first example;

FIG. 6B illustrates a virtual scene displayed by eyewear operated by asecond user B in the first example;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram listing blocks in an example method ofdisplaying virtual objects in an eyewear for first user A and seconduser B corresponding to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B;

FIG. 8A illustrates a virtual scene displayed by eyewear operated by afirst user A in a second example;

FIG. 8B illustrates a virtual scene displayed by eyewear operated by asecond user B in the second example; and

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram listing blocks in an example method ofdisplaying virtual objects in an eyewear for first user A and seconduser B corresponding to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Eyewear providing an interactive augmented reality experience betweentwo users of eyewear devices to perform a shared group task. During ashared group task session, each eyewear displays the same image. An eyetracker in each eyewear detects a portion of the image the respectiveuser is gazing at. Each eyewear generates an indication of the portionof the respective image each eyewear user is gazing at. The indicationis shared with the other eyewear, and the eyewear display indicates theportion of the image the other eyewear user is gazing at. This allowseach eyewear user to see what the other user is gazing at whencollaborating and visually observing the same image.

The following detailed description includes systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts illustrative of examples set forth in the disclosure. Numerousdetails and examples are included for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the disclosed subject matter and its relevantteachings. Those skilled in the relevant art, however, may understandhow to apply the relevant teachings without such details. Aspects of thedisclosed subject matter are not limited to the specific devices,systems, and method described because the relevant teachings can beapplied or practice in a variety of ways. The terminology andnomenclature used herein is for the purpose of describing particularaspects only and is not intended to be limiting. In general, well-knowninstruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques are notnecessarily shown in detail.

The terms “coupled” or “connected” as used herein refer to any logical,optical, physical, or electrical connection, including a link or thelike by which the electrical or magnetic signals produced or supplied byone system element are imparted to another coupled or connected systemelement. Unless described otherwise, coupled or connected elements ordevices are not necessarily directly connected to one another and may beseparated by intermediate components, elements, or communication media,one or more of which may modify, manipulate, or carry the electricalsignals. The term “on” means directly supported by an element orindirectly supported by the element through another element that isintegrated into or supported by the element.

The term “proximal” is used to describe an item or part of an item thatis situated near, adjacent, or next to an object or person; or that iscloser relative to other parts of the item, which may be described as“distal.” For example, the end of an item nearest an object may bereferred to as the proximal end, whereas the generally opposing end maybe referred to as the distal end.

The orientations of the eyewear device, other mobile devices, associatedcomponents and any other devices incorporating a camera, an inertialmeasurement unit, or both such as shown in any of the drawings, aregiven by way of example only, for illustration and discussion purposes.In operation, the eyewear device may be oriented in any other directionsuitable to the particular application of the eyewear device; forexample, up, down, sideways, or any other orientation. Also, to theextent used herein, any directional term, such as front, rear, inward,outward, toward, left, right, lateral, longitudinal, up, down, upper,lower, top, bottom, side, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal are used byway of example only, and are not limiting as to the direction ororientation of any camera or inertial measurement unit as constructed oras otherwise described herein.

Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the examples willbe set forth in part in the following description, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by productionor operation of the examples. The objects and advantages of the presentsubject matter may be realized and attained by means of themethodologies, instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and discussed below.

FIG. 1A is a side view (right) of an example hardware configuration ofan eyewear device 100 which includes a touch-sensitive input device ortouchpad 181. As shown, the touchpad 181 may have a boundary that issubtle and not easily seen; alternatively, the boundary may be plainlyvisible or include a raised or otherwise tactile edge that providesfeedback to the user about the location and boundary of the touchpad181. In other implementations, the eyewear device 100 may include atouchpad on the left side.

The surface of the touchpad 181 is configured to detect finger touches,taps, and gestures (e.g., moving touches) for use with a GUI displayedby the eyewear device, on an image display, to allow the user tonavigate through and select menu options in an intuitive manner, whichenhances and simplifies the user experience.

Detection of finger inputs on the touchpad 181 can enable severalfunctions. For example, touching anywhere on the touchpad 181 may causethe GUI to display or highlight an item on the image display, which maybe projected onto at least one of the optical assemblies 180A, 180B.Double tapping on the touchpad 181 may select an item or icon. Slidingor swiping a finger in a particular direction (e.g., from front to back,back to front, up to down, or down to) may cause the items or icons toslide or scroll in a particular direction; for example, to move to anext item, icon, video, image, page, or slide. Sliding the finger inanother direction may slide or scroll in the opposite direction; forexample, to move to a previous item, icon, video, image, page, or slide.The touchpad 181 can be virtually anywhere on the eyewear device 100.

In one example, an identified finger gesture of a single tap on thetouchpad 181, initiates selection or pressing of a graphical userinterface element in the image presented on the image display of theoptical assembly 180A, 180B. An adjustment to the image presented on theimage display of the optical assembly 180A, 180B based on the identifiedfinger gesture can be a primary action which selects or submits thegraphical user interface element on the image display of the opticalassembly 180A, 180B for further display or execution.

As shown, the eyewear device 100 includes a right visible-light camera114B. As further described herein, two cameras 114A, 114B capture imageinformation for a scene from two separate viewpoints. The two capturedimages may be used to project a three-dimensional display onto an imagedisplay for viewing with 3D glasses.

The eyewear device 100 includes a right optical assembly 180B with animage display to present images, such as depth images. As shown in FIGS.1A and 1B, the eyewear device 100 includes the right visible-lightcamera 114B. The eyewear device 100 can include multiple visible-lightcameras 114A, 114B that form a passive type of three-dimensional camera,such as stereo camera, of which the right visible-light camera 114B islocated on a right corner 110B. As shown in FIGS. 1C-D, the eyeweardevice 100 also includes a left visible-light camera 114A.

Left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B are sensitive to thevisible-light range wavelength. Each of the visible-light cameras 114A,114B have a different frontward facing field of view which areoverlapping to enable generation of three-dimensional depth images, forexample, right visible-light camera 114B depicts a right field of view111B. Generally, a “field of view” is the part of the scene that isvisible through the camera at a particular position and orientation inspace. The fields of view 111A and 111B have an overlapping field ofview 304 (FIG. 3). Objects or object features outside the field of view111A, 111B when the visible-light camera captures the image are notrecorded in a raw image (e.g., photograph or picture). The field of viewdescribes an angle range or extent, which the image sensor of thevisible-light camera 114A, 114B picks up electromagnetic radiation of agiven scene in a captured image of the given scene. Field of view can beexpressed as the angular size of the view cone; i.e., an angle of view.The angle of view can be measured horizontally, vertically, ordiagonally.

In an example, visible-light cameras 114A, 114B have a field of viewwith an angle of view between 15° to 110°, for example 24°, and have aresolution of 480×480 pixels (or greater). In another example, the fieldof view can be much wider, such as 100°. The “angle of coverage”describes the angle range that a lens of visible-light cameras 114A,114B or infrared camera 220 (see FIG. 2A) can effectively image.Typically, the camera lens produces an image circle that is large enoughto cover the film or sensor of the camera completely, possibly includingsome vignetting (e.g., a darkening of the image toward the edges whencompared to the center). If the angle of coverage of the camera lensdoes not fill the sensor, the image circle will be visible, typicallywith strong vignetting toward the edge, and the effective angle of viewwill be limited to the angle of coverage.

Examples of such visible-light cameras 114A, 114B include ahigh-resolution complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imagesensor and a digital VGA camera (video graphics array) capable ofresolutions of 640 p (e.g., 640×480 pixels for a total of 0.3megapixels), 720p, or 1080p. Other examples of visible-light cameras114A, 114B that can capture high-definition (HD) still images and storethem at a resolution of 1642 by 1642 pixels (or greater); or recordhigh-definition video at a high frame rate (e.g., thirty to sixty framesper second or more) and store the recording at a resolution of 1216 by1216 pixels (or greater).

The eyewear device 100 may capture image sensor data from thevisible-light cameras 114A, 114B along with geolocation data, digitizedby an image processor, for storage in a memory. The visible-lightcameras 114A, 114B capture respective left and right raw images in thetwo-dimensional space domain that comprise a matrix of pixels on atwo-dimensional coordinate system that includes an X-axis for horizontalposition and a Y-axis for vertical position. Each pixel includes a colorattribute value (e.g., a red pixel light value, a green pixel lightvalue, or a blue pixel light value); and a position attribute (e.g., anX-axis coordinate and a Y-axis coordinate).

In order to capture stereo images for later display as athree-dimensional projection, the image processor 412 (shown in FIG. 4)may be coupled to the visible-light cameras 114A, 114B to receive andstore the visual image information. The image processor 412, or anotherprocessor, controls operation of the visible-light cameras 114A, 114B toact as a stereo camera simulating human binocular vision and may add atimestamp to each image. The timestamp on each pair of images allowsdisplay of the images together as part of a three-dimensionalprojection. Three-dimensional projections produce an immersive,life-like experience that is desirable in a variety of contexts,including virtual reality (VR) and video gaming.

FIG. 1B is a perspective, cross-sectional view of a right corner 110B ofthe eyewear device 100 of FIG. 1A depicting the right visible-lightcamera 114B of the camera system, and a circuit board. FIG. 1C is a sideview (left) of an example hardware configuration of an eyewear device100 of FIG. 1A, which shows a left visible-light camera 114A of thecamera system. FIG. 1D is a perspective, cross-sectional view of a leftcorner 110A of the eyewear device of FIG. 1C depicting the leftvisible-light camera 114A of the three-dimensional camera, and a circuitboard.

Construction and placement of the left visible-light camera 114A issubstantially similar to the right visible-light camera 114B, except theconnections and coupling are on the left lateral side 170A. As shown inthe example of FIG. 1B, the eyewear device 100 includes the rightvisible-light camera 114B and a circuit board 140B, which may be aflexible printed circuit board (PCB). The right hinge 126B connects theright corner 110B to a right temple 125B of the eyewear device 100. Insome examples, components of the right visible-light camera 114B, theflexible PCB 140B, or other electrical connectors or contacts may belocated on the right temple 125B or the right hinge 126B.

The left corner 110A and the right corner 110B includes corner body 190and a corner cap, with the corner cap omitted in the cross-section ofFIG. 1B and FIG. 1D. Disposed inside the left corner 110A and the rightcorner 110B are various interconnected circuit boards, such as PCBs orflexible PCBs, that include controller circuits for the respective leftvisible-light camera 114A and the right visible-light camera 114B,microphone(s) 130, speaker 132, low-power wireless circuitry (e.g., forwireless short range network communication via Bluetooth™), high-speedwireless circuitry (e.g., for wireless local area network communicationvia Wi-Fi).

The right visible-light camera 114B is coupled to or disposed on theflexible PCB 140B and covered by a visible-light camera cover lens,which is aimed through opening(s) formed in the frame 105. For example,the right rim 107B of the frame 105, shown in FIG. 2A, is connected tothe right corner 110B and includes the opening(s) for the visible-lightcamera cover lens. The frame 105 includes a front side configured toface outward and away from the eye of the user. The opening for thevisible-light camera cover lens is formed on and through the front oroutward-facing side of the frame 105. In the example, the rightvisible-light camera 114B has an outward-facing field of view 111B(shown in FIG. 3) with a line of sight or perspective that is correlatedwith the right eye of the user of the eyewear device 100. Thevisible-light camera cover lens can also be adhered to a front side oroutward-facing surface of the right corner 110B in which an opening isformed with an outward-facing angle of coverage, but in a differentoutwardly direction. The coupling can also be indirect via interveningcomponents.

As shown in FIG. 1B, flexible PCB 140B is disposed inside the rightcorner 110B and is coupled to one or more other components housed in theright corner 110B. Although shown as being formed on the circuit boardsof the right corner 110B, the right visible-light camera 114B can beformed on the circuit boards of the left corner 110A, the temples 125A,125B, or the frame 105.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views, from the rear, of examplehardware configurations of the eyewear device 100, including twodifferent types of image displays. The eyewear device 100 is sized andshaped in a form configured for wearing by a user; the form ofeyeglasses is shown in the example. The eyewear device 100 can takeother forms and may incorporate other types of frameworks; for example,a headgear, a headset, or a helmet.

In the eyeglasses example, eyewear device 100 includes a frame 105including a left rim 107A connected to a right rim 107B via a bridge 106adapted to be supported by a nose of the user. The left and right rims107A, 107B include respective apertures 175A, 175B, which hold arespective optical element 180A, 180B, such as a lens and a displaydevice. As used herein, the term “lens” is meant to include transparentor translucent pieces of glass or plastic having curved or flat surfacesthat cause light to converge/diverge or that cause little or noconvergence or divergence.

Although shown as having two optical elements 180A, 180B, the eyeweardevice 100 can include other arrangements, such as a single opticalelement (or it may not include any optical element 180A, 180B),depending on the application or the intended user of the eyewear device100. As further shown, eyewear device 100 includes a left corner 110Aadjacent the left lateral side 170A of the frame 105 and a right corner110B adjacent the right lateral side 170B of the frame 105. The corners110A, 110B may be integrated into the frame 105 on the respective sides170A, 170B (as illustrated) or implemented as separate componentsattached to the frame 105 on the respective sides 170A, 170B.Alternatively, the corners 110A, 110B may be integrated into temples(not shown) attached to the frame 105.

In one example, the image display of optical assembly 180A, 180Bincludes an integrated image display 177. As shown in FIG. 2A, eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B includes a suitable display matrix 177, suchas a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode(OLED) display, or any other such display. Each optical assembly 180A,180B also includes an optical layer or layers 176, which can includelenses, optical coatings, prisms, mirrors, waveguides, optical strips,and other optical components in any combination. The optical layers176A, 176B, . . . 176N (shown as 176A-N in FIG. 2A and herein) caninclude a prism having a suitable size and configuration and including afirst surface for receiving light from a display matrix and a secondsurface for emitting light to the eye of the user. The prism of theoptical layers 176A-N extends over all or at least a portion of therespective apertures 175A, 175B formed in the left and right rims 107A,107B to permit the user to see the second surface of the prism when theeye of the user is viewing through the corresponding left and right rims107A, 107B. The first surface of the prism of the optical layers 176A-Nfaces upwardly from the frame 105 and the display matrix 177 overliesthe prism so that photons and light emitted by the display matrix 177impinge the first surface. The prism is sized and shaped so that thelight is refracted within the prism and is directed toward the eye ofthe user by the second surface of the prism of the optical layers176A-N. In this regard, the second surface of the prism of the opticallayers 176A-N can be convex to direct the light toward the center of theeye. The prism can optionally be sized and shaped to magnify the imageprojected by the display matrix 177, and the light travels through theprism so that the image viewed from the second surface is larger in oneor more dimensions than the image emitted from the display matrix 177.

In one example, the optical layers 176A-N may include an LCD layer thatis transparent (keeping the lens open) unless and until a voltage isapplied which makes the layer opaque (closing or blocking the lens). Theimage processor 412 on the eyewear device 100 may execute programming toapply the voltage to the LCD layer in order to produce an active shuttersystem, making the eyewear device 100 suitable for viewing visualcontent when displayed as a three-dimensional projection. Technologiesother than LCD may be used for the active shutter mode, including othertypes of reactive layers that are responsive to a voltage or anothertype of input.

In another example, the image display device of optical assembly 180A,180B includes a projection image display as shown in FIG. 2B. Eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B includes a laser projector 150, which is athree-color laser projector using a scanning mirror or galvanometer.During operation, an optical source such as a laser projector 150 isdisposed in or on one of the temples 125A, 125B of the eyewear device100. Optical assembly 180B in this example includes one or more opticalstrips 155A, 155B, . . . 155N (shown as 155A-N in FIG. 2B) which arespaced apart and across the width of the lens of each optical assembly180A, 180B or across a depth of the lens between the front surface andthe rear surface of the lens.

As the photons projected by the laser projector 150 travel across thelens of each optical assembly 180A, 180B, the photons encounter theoptical strips 155A-N. When a particular photon encounters a particularoptical strip, the photon is either redirected toward the user's eye, orit passes to the next optical strip. A combination of modulation oflaser projector 150, and modulation of optical strips, may controlspecific photons or beams of light. In an example, a processor controlsoptical strips 155A-N by initiating mechanical, acoustic, orelectromagnetic signals. Although shown as having two optical assemblies180A, 180B, the eyewear device 100 can include other arrangements, suchas a single or three optical assemblies, or each optical assembly 180A,180B may have arranged different arrangement depending on theapplication or intended user of the eyewear device 100.

As further shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, eyewear device 100 includes a leftcorner 110A adjacent the left lateral side 170A of the frame 105 and aright corner 110B adjacent the right lateral side 170B of the frame 105.The corners 110A, 110B may be integrated into the frame 105 on therespective lateral sides 170A, 170B (as illustrated) or implemented asseparate components attached to the frame 105 on the respective sides170A, 170B. Alternatively, the corners 110A, 110B may be integrated intotemples 125A, 125B attached to the frame 105.

In another example, the eyewear device 100 shown in FIG. 2B may includetwo projectors, a left projector 150A (not shown) and a right projector150B (shown as projector 150). The left optical assembly 180A mayinclude a left display matrix 177A (not shown) or a left set of opticalstrips 155′A, 155′B, . . . 155′N (155 prime, A through N, not shown)which are configured to interact with light from the left projector150A. Similarly, the right optical assembly 180B may include a rightdisplay matrix 177B (not shown) or a right set of optical strips 155″A,155″B, . . . 155″N (155 double prime, A through N, not shown) which areconfigured to interact with light from the right projector 150B. In thisexample, the eyewear device 100 includes a left display and a rightdisplay.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the frame 105 or one or more of the left and righttemples 125A-B include an infrared emitter 215 and an infrared camera220, which form an eye tracker 213 (FIG. 2C). The infrared emitter 215and the infrared camera 220 can be connected to the flexible PCB 140B bysoldering, for example.

Other arrangements of the infrared emitter 215 and infrared camera 220can be implemented, including arrangements in which the infrared emitter215 and infrared camera 220 are both on the right rim 107B, or indifferent locations on the frame 105, for example, the infrared emitter215 is on the left rim 107A and the infrared camera 220 is on the rightrim 107B. In another example, the infrared emitter 215 is on the frame105 and the infrared camera 220 is on one of the temples 110A-B, or viceversa. The infrared emitter 215 can be connected essentially anywhere onthe frame 105, left temple 125A, or right temple 125B to emit a patternof infrared light. Similarly, the infrared camera 220 can be connectedessentially anywhere on the frame 105, left temple 125A, or right temple125B to capture at least one reflection variation in the emitted patternof infrared light.

The infrared emitter 215 and infrared camera 220 are arranged to faceinwards towards an eye of the user with a partial or full field of viewof the eye in order to identify the respective eye position and gazedirection. For example, the infrared emitter 215 and infrared camera 220are positioned directly in front of the eye, in the upper part of theframe 105 or in the temples 125A-B at either ends of the frame 105.

In an example, the processor 432 utilizes the eye tracker 213 todetermine an eye gaze direction 230 of a wearer's eye 234 as shown inFIG. 2C, and an eye position 236 of the wearer's eye 234 within an eyebox as shown in FIG. 2D. The eye tracker 213 is a scanner which usesinfrared light illumination (e.g., near-infrared, short-wavelengthinfrared, mid-wavelength infrared, long-wavelength infrared, or farinfrared) to captured image of reflection variations of infrared lightfrom the eye 234 to determine the gaze direction 230 of a pupil 232 ofthe eye 234, and also the eye position 236 with respect to thesee-through display 180D.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic depiction of a three-dimensional scene 306, aleft raw image 302A captured by a left visible-light camera 114A, and aright raw image 302B captured by a right visible-light camera 114B. Theleft field of view 111A may overlap, as shown, with the right field ofview 111B. The overlapping field of view 304 represents that portion ofthe image captured by both cameras 114A, 114B. The term ‘overlapping’when referring to field of view means the matrix of pixels in thegenerated raw images overlap by thirty percent (30%) or more.‘Substantially overlapping’ means the matrix of pixels in the generatedraw images—or in the infrared image of scene—overlap by fifty percent(50%) or more. As described herein, the two raw images 302A, 302B may beprocessed to include a timestamp, which allows the images to bedisplayed together as part of a three-dimensional projection.

For the capture of stereo images, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a pair ofraw red, green, and blue (RGB) images are captured of a real scene 306at a given moment in time—a left raw image 302A captured by the leftcamera 114A and right raw image 302B captured by the right camera 114B.When the pair of raw images 302A, 302B are processed (e.g., by the imageprocessor 412), depth images are generated. The generated depth imagesmay be viewed on an optical assembly 180A, 180B of an eyewear device, onanother display (e.g., the image display 580 on a mobile device 401), oron a screen.

The generated depth images are in the three-dimensional space domain andcan comprise a matrix of vertices on a three-dimensional locationcoordinate system that includes an X axis for horizontal position (e.g.,length), a Y axis for vertical position (e.g., height), and a Z axis fordepth (e.g., distance). Each vertex may include a color attribute (e.g.,a red pixel light value, a green pixel light value, or a blue pixellight value); a position attribute (e.g., an X location coordinate, a Ylocation coordinate, and a Z location coordinate); a texture attribute;a reflectance attribute; or a combination thereof. The texture attributequantifies the perceived texture of the depth image, such as the spatialarrangement of color or intensities in a region of vertices of the depthimage.

In one example, the interactive augmented reality system 400 (FIG. 4)includes the eyewear device 100, which includes a frame 105 and a lefttemple 125A extending from a left lateral side 170A of the frame 105 anda right temple 125B extending from a right lateral side 170B of theframe 105. The eyewear device 100 may further include at least twovisible-light cameras 114A, 114B having overlapping fields of view. Inone example, the eyewear device 100 includes a left visible-light camera114A with a left field of view 111A, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The leftcamera 114A is connected to the frame 105 or the left temple 125A tocapture a left raw image 302A from the left side of scene 306. Theeyewear device 100 further includes a right visible-light camera 114Bwith a right field of view 111B. The right camera 114B is connected tothe frame 105 or the right temple 125B to capture a right raw image 302Bfrom the right side of scene 306.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an example interactive augmentedreality system 400 that includes a wearable device (e.g., an eyeweardevice 100), a mobile device 401, and a server system 498 connected viavarious networks 495 such as the Internet. The interactive augmentedreality system 400 includes a low-power wireless connection 425 and ahigh-speed wireless connection 437 between the eyewear device 100 andthe mobile device 401.

As shown in FIG. 4, the eyewear device 100 includes one or morevisible-light cameras 114A, 114B that capture still images, videoimages, or both still and video images, as described herein. The cameras114A, 114B may have a direct memory access (DMA) to high-speed circuitry430 and function as a stereo camera. The cameras 114A, 114B may be usedto capture initial-depth images that may be rendered intothree-dimensional (3D) models that are texture-mapped images of a red,green, and blue (RGB) imaged scene. The device 100 may also include aninfrared emitter(s) 215 and infrared camera(s) 220 for eye tracking.

The eyewear device 100 further includes two image displays 177 of eachoptical assembly 180A, 180B (one associated with the left side 170A andone associated with the right side 170B). The eyewear device 100 alsoincludes an image display driver 442, an image processor 412, low-powercircuitry 420, and high-speed circuitry 430. The image displays 177 ofeach optical assembly 180A, 180B are for presenting images, includingstill images, video images, or still and video images. The image displaydriver 442 is coupled to the image displays of each optical assembly180A, 180B in order to control the display of images.

The eyewear device 100 additionally includes one or more speakers 440(e.g., one associated with the left side of the eyewear device andanother associated with the right side of the eyewear device). Thespeakers 440 may be incorporated into the frame 105, temples 125, orcorners 110 of the eyewear device 100. The one or more speakers 440 aredriven by audio processor 443 under control of low-power circuitry 420,high-speed circuitry 430, or both. The speakers 440 are for presentingaudio signals including, for example, a beat track. The audio processor443 is coupled to the speakers 440 in order to control the presentationof sound.

The components shown in FIG. 4 for the eyewear device 100 are located onone or more circuit boards, for example a printed circuit board (PCB) orflexible printed circuit (FPC), located in the rims or temples.Alternatively, or additionally, the depicted components can be locatedin the corners, frames, hinges, or bridge of the eyewear device 100.Left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B can include digitalcamera elements such as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)image sensor, a charge-coupled device, a lens, or any other respectivevisible or light capturing elements that may be used to capture data,including still images or video of scenes with unknown objects.

As shown in FIG. 4, high-speed circuitry 430 includes a high-speedprocessor 432, a memory 434, and high-speed wireless circuitry 436. Inthe example, the image display driver 442 is coupled to the high-speedcircuitry 430 and operated by the high-speed processor 432 in order todrive the left and right image displays of each optical assembly 180A,180B. High-speed processor 432 may be any processor capable of managinghigh-speed communications and operation of any general computing systemneeded for eyewear device 100. High-speed processor 432 includesprocessing resources needed for managing high-speed data transfers onhigh-speed wireless connection 437 to a wireless local area network(WLAN) using high-speed wireless circuitry 436.

In some examples, the high-speed processor 432 executes an operatingsystem such as a LINUX operating system or other such operating systemof the eyewear device 100 and the operating system is stored in memory434 for execution. In addition to any other responsibilities, thehigh-speed processor 432 executes a software architecture for theeyewear device 100 that is used to manage data transfers with high-speedwireless circuitry 436. In some examples, high-speed wireless circuitry436 is configured to implement Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 communication standards, also referred to hereinas Wi-Fi. In other examples, other high-speed communications standardsmay be implemented by high-speed wireless circuitry 436.

The low-power circuitry 420 includes a low-power processor 422 andlow-power wireless circuitry 424. The low-power wireless circuitry 424and the high-speed wireless circuitry 436 of the eyewear device 100 caninclude short-range transceivers (Bluetooth™ or Bluetooth Low-Energy(BLE)) and wireless wide, local, or wide-area network transceivers(e.g., cellular or Wi-Fi). Mobile device 401, including the transceiverscommunicating via the low-power wireless connection 425 and thehigh-speed wireless connection 437, may be implemented using details ofthe architecture of the eyewear device 100, as can other elements of thenetwork 495.

Memory 434 includes any storage device capable of storing various dataand applications, including, among other things, camera data generatedby the left and right visible-light cameras 114A, 114B, the infraredcamera(s) 220, the image processor 412, and images generated for display177 by the image display driver 442 on the image display of each opticalassembly 180A, 180B. Although the memory 434 is shown as integrated withhigh-speed circuitry 430, the memory 434 in other examples may be anindependent, standalone element of the eyewear device 100. In certainsuch examples, electrical routing lines may provide a connection througha chip that includes the high-speed processor 432 from the imageprocessor 412 or low-power processor 422 to the memory 434. In otherexamples, the high-speed processor 432 may manage addressing of memory434 such that the low-power processor 422 will boot the high-speedprocessor 432 any time that a read or write operation involving memory434 is needed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the high-speed processor 432 of the eyewear device100 can be coupled to the camera system (visible-light cameras 114A,114B), the image display driver 442, the user input device 491, and thememory 434. As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 530 of the mobile device 401 maybe coupled to a camera system 570, a mobile display driver 582, a userinput layer 591, and a memory 540A.

The server system 498 may be one or more computing devices as part of aservice or network computing system, for example, that include aprocessor, a memory, and network communication interface to communicateover the network 495 with one or more eyewear devices 100 and a mobiledevice 401.

The output components of the eyewear device 100 include visual elements,such as the left and right image displays 177 associated with each lensor optical assembly 180A, 180B as described in FIGS. 2A and 2B (e.g., adisplay such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel(PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a projector, or awaveguide). The eyewear device 100 may include a user-facing indicator(e.g., an LED, a loudspeaker, or a vibrating actuator), or anoutward-facing signal (e.g., an LED, a loudspeaker). The image displays177 of each optical assembly 180A, 180B are driven by the image displaydriver 442. In some example configurations, the output components of theeyewear device 100 further include additional indicators such as audibleelements (e.g., loudspeakers), tactile components (e.g., an actuatorsuch as a vibratory motor to generate haptic feedback), and other signalgenerators. For example, the device 100 may include a user-facing set ofindicators, and an outward-facing set of signals. The user-facing set ofindicators are configured to be seen or otherwise sensed by the user ofthe device 100. For example, the device 100 may include an LED displaypositioned so the user can see it, a one or more speakers positioned togenerate a sound the user can hear, or an actuator to provide hapticfeedback the user can feel. The outward-facing set of signals areconfigured to be seen or otherwise sensed by an observer near the device100. Similarly, the device 100 may include an LED, a loudspeaker, or anactuator that is configured and positioned to be sensed by an observer.

The input components of the eyewear device 100 may include alphanumericinput components (e.g., a touch screen or touchpad configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or otheralphanumeric-configured elements), pointer-based input components (e.g.,a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or otherpointing instruments), tactile input components (e.g., a button switch,a touch screen or touchpad that senses the location, force or locationand force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile-configuredelements), and audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and thelike. The mobile device 401 and the server system 498 may includealphanumeric, pointer-based, tactile, audio, and other input components.

In some examples, the eyewear device 100 includes a collection ofmotion-sensing components referred to as an inertial measurement unit472. The motion-sensing components may be micro-electro-mechanicalsystems (MEMS) with microscopic moving parts, often small enough to bepart of a microchip. The inertial measurement unit (IMU) 472 in someexample configurations includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and amagnetometer. The accelerometer senses the linear acceleration of thedevice 100 (including the acceleration due to gravity) relative to threeorthogonal axes (x, y, z). The gyroscope senses the angular velocity ofthe device 100 about three axes of rotation (pitch, roll, yaw).Together, the accelerometer and gyroscope can provide position,orientation, and motion data about the device relative to six axes (x,y, z, pitch, roll, yaw). The magnetometer, if present, senses theheading of the device 100 relative to magnetic north. The position ofthe device 100 may be determined by location sensors, such as a GPS unit473, one or more transceivers to generate relative position coordinates,altitude sensors or barometers, and other orientation sensors. Suchpositioning system coordinates can also be received over the wirelessconnections 425, 437 from the mobile device 401 via the low-powerwireless circuitry 424 or the high-speed wireless circuitry 436.

The IMU 472 may include or cooperate with a digital motion processor orprogramming that gathers the raw data from the components and compute anumber of useful values about the position, orientation, and motion ofthe device 100. For example, the acceleration data gathered from theaccelerometer can be integrated to obtain the velocity relative to eachaxis (x, y, z); and integrated again to obtain the position of thedevice 100 (in linear coordinates, x, y, and z). The angular velocitydata from the gyroscope can be integrated to obtain the position of thedevice 100 (in spherical coordinates). The programming for computingthese useful values may be stored in memory 434 and executed by thehigh-speed processor 432 of the eyewear device 100.

The eyewear device 100 may optionally include additional peripheralsensors, such as biometric sensors, specialty sensors, or displayelements integrated with eyewear device 100. For example, peripheraldevice elements may include any I/O components including outputcomponents, motion components, position components, or any other suchelements described herein. For example, the biometric sensors mayinclude components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), tomeasure bio signals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), or to identify a person (e.g.,identification based on voice, retina, facial characteristics,fingerprints, or electrical bio signals such as electroencephalogramdata), and the like.

The mobile device 401 may be a smartphone, tablet, laptop computer,access point, or any other such device capable of connecting witheyewear device 100 using both a low-power wireless connection 425 and ahigh-speed wireless connection 437. Mobile device 401 is connected toserver system 498 and network 495. The network 495 may include anycombination of wired and wireless connections.

The interactive augmented reality system 400, as shown in FIG. 4,includes a computing device, such as mobile device 401, coupled to aneyewear device 100 over a network 495. The interactive augmented realitysystem 400 includes a memory for storing instructions and a processorfor executing the instructions. Execution of the instructions of theinteractive augmented reality system 400 by the processor 432 configuresthe eyewear device 100 to cooperate with the mobile device 401, and alsowith another eyewear device 100 over the network 495. The interactiveaugmented reality system 400 may utilize the memory 434 of the eyeweardevice 100 or the memory elements 540A, 540B, 540C of the mobile device401 (FIG. 5).

The interactive augmented reality system 400 may also utilize the memory434 of a separate remote eyewear device 100B for collaboration of data,such as when executing a shared application 460 (FIGS. 6A, 6B, 8A and8D). Also, the interactive augmented reality system 400 may utilize theprocessor elements 432, 422 of the eyewear device 100 or the centralprocessing unit (CPU) 530 of the mobile device 401 (FIG. 5). Theinteractive augmented reality system 400 may also utilize the processorelements 432, 422 of the eyewear device 100B for shared processing, suchas when executing a shared application 460 (FIGS. 6A, 6B, 8A and 8B). Inaddition, the interactive augmented reality system 400 may furtherutilize the memory and processor elements of the server system 498. Inthis aspect, the memory and processing functions of the interactiveaugmented reality system 400 can be shared or distributed across theeyewear device 100, the mobile device 401, and the server system 498.

FIG. 5 is a high-level functional block diagram of an example mobiledevice 401. Mobile device 401 includes a flash memory 540A which storesprogramming to be executed by the CPU 530 to perform all or a subset ofthe functions described herein.

The mobile device 401 may include a camera 570 that comprises at leasttwo visible-light cameras (first and second visible-light cameras withoverlapping fields of view) or at least one visible-light camera and adepth sensor with substantially overlapping fields of view. Flash memory540A may further include multiple images or video, which are generatedvia the camera 570.

As shown, the mobile device 401 includes an image display 580, a mobiledisplay driver 582 to control the image display 580, and a displaycontroller 584. In the example of FIG. 5, the image display 580 includesa user input layer 591 (e.g., a touchscreen) that is layered on top ofor otherwise integrated into the screen used by the image display 580.

Examples of touchscreen-type mobile devices that may be used include(but are not limited to) a smart phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or other portable device.However, the structure and operation of the touchscreen-type devices isprovided by way of example; the subject technology as described hereinis not intended to be limited thereto. For purposes of this discussion,FIG. 5 therefore provides a block diagram illustration of the examplemobile device 401 with a user interface that includes a touchscreeninput layer 891 for receiving input (by touch, multi-touch, or gesture,and the like, by hand, stylus or other tool) and an image display 580for displaying content

As shown in FIG. 5, the mobile device 401 includes at least one digitaltransceiver (XCVR) 510, shown as WWAN XCVRs, for digital wirelesscommunications via a wide-area wireless mobile communication network.The mobile device 401 also includes additional digital or analogtransceivers, such as short-range transceivers (XCVRs) 520 forshort-range network communication, such as via NFC, VLC, DECT, ZigBee,Bluetooth™, or Wi-Fi. For example, short range XCVRs 520 may take theform of any available two-way wireless local area network (WLAN)transceiver of a type that is compatible with one or more standardprotocols of communication implemented in wireless local area networks,such as one of the Wi-Fi standards under IEEE 802.11.

To generate location coordinates for positioning of the mobile device401, the mobile device 401 can include a global positioning system (GPS)receiver. Alternatively, or additionally the mobile device 401 canutilize either or both the short range XCVRs 520 and WWAN XCVRs 510 forgenerating location coordinates for positioning. For example, cellularnetwork, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth™ based positioning systems can generatevery accurate location coordinates, particularly when used incombination. Such location coordinates can be transmitted to the eyeweardevice over one or more network connections via XCVRs 510, 520.

The transceivers 510, 520 (i.e., the network communication interface)conforms to one or more of the various digital wireless communicationstandards utilized by modern mobile networks. Examples of WWANtransceivers 510 include (but are not limited to) transceiversconfigured to operate in accordance with Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) networktechnologies including, for example and without limitation, 3GPP type 2(or 3GPP2) and LTE, at times referred to as “4G.” For example, thetransceivers 510, 520 provide two-way wireless communication ofinformation including digitized audio signals, still image and videosignals, web page information for display as well as web-related inputs,and various types of mobile message communications to/from the mobiledevice 401.

The mobile device 401 further includes a microprocessor that functionsas a central processing unit (CPU); shown as CPU 530 in FIG. 4. Aprocessor is a circuit having elements structured and arranged toperform one or more processing functions, typically various dataprocessing functions. Although discrete logic components could be used,the examples utilize components forming a programmable CPU. Amicroprocessor for example includes one or more integrated circuit (IC)chips incorporating the electronic elements to perform the functions ofthe CPU. The CPU 530, for example, may be based on any known oravailable microprocessor architecture, such as a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) using an ARM architecture, as commonly used today inmobile devices and other portable electronic devices. Of course, otherarrangements of processor circuitry may be used to form the CPU 530 orprocessor hardware in smartphone, laptop computer, and tablet.

The CPU 530 serves as a programmable host controller for the mobiledevice 401 by configuring the mobile device 401 to perform variousoperations, for example, in accordance with instructions or programmingexecutable by CPU 530. For example, such operations may include variousgeneral operations of the mobile device, as well as operations relatedto the programming for applications on the mobile device. Although aprocessor may be configured by use of hardwired logic, typicalprocessors in mobile devices are general processing circuits configuredby execution of programming.

The mobile device 401 includes a memory or storage system, for storingprogramming and data. In the example, the memory system may include aflash memory 540A, a random-access memory (RAM) 540B, and other memorycomponents 540C, as needed. The RAM 540B serves as short-term storagefor instructions and data being handled by the CPU 530, e.g., as aworking data processing memory. The flash memory 540A typically provideslonger-term storage.

Hence, in the example of mobile device 401, the flash memory 540A isused to store programming or instructions for execution by the CPU 530.Depending on the type of device, the mobile device 401 stores and runs amobile operating system through which specific applications areexecuted. Examples of mobile operating systems include Google Android,Apple iOS (for iPhone or iPad devices), Windows Mobile, Amazon Fire OS,RIM BlackBerry OS, or the like.

The processor 432 within the eyewear device 100 may construct a map ofthe environment surrounding the eyewear device 100, determine a locationof the eyewear device within the mapped environment, and determine arelative position of the eyewear device to one or more objects in themapped environment. The processor 432 may construct the map anddetermine location and position information using a simultaneouslocalization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm applied to data received fromone or more sensors. In the context of augmented reality, a SLAMalgorithm is used to construct and update a map of an environment, whilesimultaneously tracking and updating the location of a device (or auser) within the mapped environment. The mathematical solution can beapproximated using various statistical methods, such as particlefilters, Kalman filters, extended Kalman filters, and covarianceintersection.

Sensor data includes images received from one or both of the cameras114A, 114B, distance(s) received from a laser range finder, positioninformation received from a GPS unit 473, or a combination of two ormore of such sensor data, or from other sensors providing data useful indetermining positional information.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B illustrate a first example of the operation of theshared group task application 460 operable on each eyewear, to create anaugmented reality experience in which a first user A of a first eyeweardevice 100A and a second user B of a second eyewear device 110B can eachview, manipulate, and edit one or more virtual objects in a shared imagethat a viewable to each user. This shared group task application 460 isa remote async game experience that enables two or more users ofrespective eyewear to collaborate and remotely interact in a virtualenvironment by working together. In an example, first user A and seconduser B may be friends or colleagues that interact via the respectiveeyewear to jointly generate and modify one or more virtual objects inthe shared image, such as a virtual scene.

FIG. 6A illustrates a display 177A of the first eyewear device 100Ashowing a virtual object 600 in a first frame of reference, shown as avirtual scene 602A, viewable by a first user A. FIG. 6B illustrates adisplay 177B of the second eyewear device 100B displaying the samevirtual object 600 in a second frame of reference, shown as a virtualscene 602B, viewable by a second user B. The displayed virtual scenes602A and 602B are identical to each other, and thus mirror each other.Each user A and user B can manipulate the displayed virtual object 600,such as by using the input components, such as touchpad 181, of therespective eyewear device 100 by tapping on another virtual object 604and manipulating the second virtual object 604 with respect to virtualobject 600. The manipulation by one user of the virtual object 600 isdisplayed on the display 177 of the other user eyewear device 100 as theeyewear device 100A and eyewear device 100B are synced to each other.

The input components of the eyewear device 100, such as touchpad 181,and the mobile device 401 may include alphanumeric input components(e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumericinput, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric inputcomponents), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, atrackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointing instruments),tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen thatprovides location and force of touches or touch gestures, or othertactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone),and the like.

In an example, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, the virtual object 600is illustrated as a building, and the second virtual object 604 is abuilding block that can be added to the virtual object 600. Likewise,the virtual object 604 can be removed from the virtual object 600, suchthat virtual objects can be added, manipulated, and removed as desired.The user collaboration allows the virtual objects to be jointly createdand modified. Other features of a scene can also be included, such as aroadway, parks, and water.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart 700 depicting a method of operation of theprocessor 432 executing instructions of the augmented reality sharedgroup task application 460 described herein on a wearable device (e.g.,an eyewear device 100). Although the steps of the processor 432 aredescribed with reference to the eyewear device 100A and the eyeweardevice 100B, as described herein, other implementations of the stepsdescribed, for other types of devices, will be understood by one ofskill in the art from the description herein. Additionally, it iscontemplated that one or more of the steps shown in FIG. 7, and in otherfigures, and described herein may be omitted, performed simultaneouslyor in a series, performed in an order other than illustrated anddescribed, or performed in conjunction with additional steps.

At step 702, user A of eyewear 100A initiates the shared group taskapplication 460, and then invites user B of eyewear 100B to join ashared group task session, such as by messaging user B via the wirelesscircuitry 436 and network 495. The messaging can be automaticallygenerated by processor 432, such as when user A clicks on the name oricon of user B from a list of available users, such as a list offriends. User B can accept the invite and thereby complete the synchingof the eyewear 100A and 100B by messaging and creating the shared grouptask session.

At block 704, the processor 432 of eyewear device 100A and the processor432 of eyewear device 100B establish a virtual frame of reference foruser A and user B, respectively. This is shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6Bwhere the virtual frame of reference is the virtual scene 602A displayedon the display 177A of eyewear 100A, and the virtual scene 602Bdisplayed on the display 177B of eyewear 100B. The virtual scenes areidentical. The user of the eyewear that first initiates the shared grouptask application 460 is referred to as user A.

At block 706, user A of eyewear 100A creates input via the inputcomponents to cause processor 432 to display the virtual object(s) 600in the virtual scene 602A. The virtual object 600 can be an objectselected from a list of objects stored in respective memory 434, and canalso be created from scratch by user A. Responsively, the processor 432of eyewear 100B automatically displays the virtual object 600 to user Bin the virtual scene 602B of eyewear 100B. User B can also go first andcreate the virtual object 600 in virtual scene 602B which is then sharedwith user B and displayed in virtual scene 602A.

At block 708, user A creates input to the eyewear 100A, such as bymanipulating the input components on the eyewear 100A, to manipulate thevirtual object 600 in the virtual scene 602A. The user input can, forexample, cause the virtual object 604 to be manipulated with respect tovirtual object 600. The processor 432 of eyewear 100A automaticallysends a message to the processor 432 of eyewear 100B indicating user Ainput to manipulate the virtual object 600 and virtual object 604. Theprocessor 432 of eyewear 100A also automatically sends a message to theprocessor 432 of eyewear 100B indicating user A modifications of thevirtual scene 602A. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, the user A inputcan cause the block comprising virtual object 604 to be stacked on thevirtual object 600 comprising a building.

At block 710, user B likewise creates input to the eyewear 100B, such asby using the input components of the eyewear 100B, to manipulate thevirtual object 600 in virtual scene 602B. The user B input can, forexample, cause the virtual object 604 to be manipulated with respect tovirtual object 600. The processor 432 of eyewear 100B also automaticallysends a message to the processor 432 of eyewear 100A indicating the userB input to manipulate the virtual object 600. In the example shown inFIG. 6B, the input B can cause the block comprising virtual object 604to be stacked on the virtual object 600 comprising a building.

At block 712, the processor 432 of eyewear 100B receives the messagefrom eyewear 100A via network 495, and translates the received messageto manipulate the virtual object 600 and virtual object 604 displayed bydisplay 177B to match the manipulation illustrated by the display 177Aof eyewear 100A. Likewise, the processor 432 of eyewear 100A receivesthe message from eyewear 100B via network 495, and translates thereceived message to manipulate the virtual object 600 and virtual object604 displayed by display 177A to match the manipulation illustrated bythe display 177B of eyewear 100B.

At block 714, the processor 432 of eyewear 100B causes the display 177Bto display the manipulations of user A in the virtual scene 602B ofeyewear 100B, and the processor 432 of eyewear 100A causes the display177A to display the manipulations of user B in the virtual scene 602A ofeyewear 100A.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate another example of the operation of theshared group task application 460 operable on each eyewear 100A and100B, to create an augmented reality experience in which a first user Aof a first eyewear device 100A and a second user B of a second eyeweardevice 110B can each determine which portion of a shared image that theeyes of the other user is gazing at. This shared group task application460 is a remote async experience that enables two or more users ofrespective eyewear to collaborate and remotely interact in a virtualenvironment by viewing and working together. In an example, first user Aand second user B may interact via the respective eyewear 100 to jointlyview one or more image portions or objects in a shared image, such asthe same virtual scenes, to appreciate the interest of the image of theother user.

FIG. 8A illustrates a display 177C of the first eyewear device 100Adisplaying an image having virtual objects 800 in a first frame ofreference, shown as a virtual scene 802A, viewable by a first user A.FIG. 8B illustrates a display 177D of the second eyewear device 100Bdisplaying the same image, such as the same virtual objects 800 in asecond frame of reference, shown as a virtual scene 802B, viewable by asecond user B. The displayed virtual scenes 802A and 802B are identicalto each other, and thus mirror each other. Each user A and user B cangaze at the different portions or objects 800 of the same image, such asthe displayed virtual objects 800, wherein the eye tracker 213 includingemitter 215 and infrared camera 220 determine what portion or object 800of the virtual scene displayed on display 177 is actually being viewedby the eyes 234 of each user. For instance, each of user A and user Bcan view a shared browser page showing a plurality of geographicalplaces in the Caribbean, where the place that each user is gazing at isindicated on the respective display 177 to the other user, such as byhighlighting the place with color or enlarging it. User A may be gazingat Antigua, and user B may be gazing at Bonaire or Curacao, commonlyknown as the Dutch ABC islands. The name of each user may be describedon the display 177 of the other user, as shown at 806.

The input components of the eyewear device 100, such as touchpad 181,and the mobile device 401 may include alphanumeric input components(e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumericinput, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric inputcomponents), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, atrackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointing instruments),tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen thatprovides location and force of touches or touch gestures, or othertactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone),and the like.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart 900 depicting another method of operation of theprocessor 432 executing instructions of the augmented realityapplication 460 described herein on a wearable device (e.g., an eyeweardevice 100) described with respect to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B. Although thesteps of the processor 432 are described with reference to the eyeweardevice 100A and the eyewear device 100B, as described herein, otherimplementations of the steps described, for other types of devices, willbe understood by one of skill in the art from the description herein.Additionally, it is contemplated that one or more of the steps shown inFIG. 9, and in other figures, and described herein may be omitted,performed simultaneously or in a series, performed in an order otherthan illustrated and described, or performed in conjunction withadditional steps.

At step 902, user A of eyewear 100A initiates a shared group taskapplication 460, and then invites user B of eyewear 100B to join ashared group task session, such as by messaging user B via the wirelesscircuitry 436 and network 495. The messaging can be automaticallygenerated by processor 432, such as when user A clicks on the name oricon of user B from a list of available users, such as a list offriends. User B can accept the invite and thereby complete the synchingof the eyewear 100A and 100B by messaging and creating the shared grouptask session.

At block 904, the processor 432 of eyewear device 100A and the processor432 of eyewear device 100B establish a virtual frame of reference foruser A and user B, respectively. This is shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8Bwhere the virtual frame of reference is the virtual scene 802A displayedon the display 177C of eyewear 100A, and the virtual scene 802Bdisplayed on the display 177D of eyewear 100B. The virtual scenes areidentical. The user of the eyewear that first initiates the shared grouptask application 460 is referred to as user A.

At block 906, user A of eyewear device 100A creates input via the inputcomponents, such as using touchpad 181, to cause processor 432 todisplay virtual scene 802A on display 177C having image portions and thevirtual object(s) 800 in the virtual scene 802A. The image comprisingthe virtual scene can be retrieved from a set of stored images in memory434, downloaded from a remote location, or by browsing a site on theinternet via network 495. The virtual scene 802A with image portions andobjects 800 can also be created from scratch by user A using the inputcomponents. The virtual scene 802A is automatically shared with eyeweardevice 100B. Responsively, the processor 432 of eyewear 100Bautomatically displays the virtual scene including image portions andobjects 800 to user B in the virtual scene 602B of eyewear 100B. User Bcan also go first and create the virtual scene 802B including objects800 which image is then shared with user B and displayed in virtualscene 602A.

At block 908, the processor 432 of each eyewear device 100 controls therespective eye tracker 213 to track the eye position of a user's eye 234by tracking the pupil 232, and determines what image portion or object800 that respective user is actually gazing at on respective display177. The processor 432 of each eyewear device 100 automatically sharesthis eye tracking information with the processor 432 of the othereyewear device 100 using messaging via wireless device 436 and network495.

At block 910, the processor 432 of eyewear device 100B automaticallyreceives a message from the processor 432 of eyewear device 100Aincluding the eye tracking information of the eye of user A via wirelesscircuitry 436 and network 495. This allows the processor 432 of eyeweardevice 100B to determine what image portion or object 800 that user A isactually gazing at on display 177C.

At block 912, the processor 432 of eyewear device 100A automaticallyreceives a message from the processor 432 of eyewear device 100Bincluding the eye tracking information of the eye of user B via wirelesscircuitry 436 and network 495. This allows the processor 432 of eyeweardevice 100A to determine what image portion or object 800 that user B isactually gazing at on display 177D.

At block 914, each display 177 of respective eyewear device 100A and100B automatically displays the image portion or object 800 that theother user is gazing at in the shared image. This may be done a numberof ways, for example, by highlighting, coloring, or enlarging the imageportion or object 800 in the respective virtual scene 802A and 802B thatthe other user is gazing at. For instance, each of user A and user B canview a shared browser page showing a plurality of geographical places inthe Caribbean, where the place that each user is gazing at is indicatedin the respective virtual scene 802A and 802B on the respective display177 to the other user, such as by highlighting the place with color orenlarging it. User A may be gazing at Antigua, and user B may be gazingat Bonaire or Curacao, commonly known as the Dutch ABC islands. The nameof the other user(s) may be described on the display 177 of the otheruser, as shown at 808.

More than two users can operate respective eyewear devices 100, andjointly participate in a session where each user can see the portion ofthe image that each user is gazing at. Thus, limitation to eyewearoperating with only one user is not to be inferred.

Any of the functionality described herein for the eyewear device 100,the mobile device 401, and the server system 498 can be embodied in oneor more computer software applications or sets of programminginstructions, as described herein. According to some examples,“function,” “functions,” “application,” “applications,” “instruction,”“instructions,” or “programming” are program(s) that execute functionsdefined in the programs. Various programming languages can be employedto develop one or more of the applications, structured in a variety ofmanners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g.,Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., Cor assembly language). In a specific example, a third-party application(e.g., an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ softwaredevelopment kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of theparticular platform) may include mobile software running on a mobileoperating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or anothermobile operating systems. In this example, the third-party applicationcan invoke API calls provided by the operating system to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

Hence, a machine-readable medium may take many forms of tangible storagemedium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example, optical ormagnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in any computerdevices or the like, such as may be used to implement the client device,media gateway, transcoder, etc. shown in the drawings. Volatile storagemedia include dynamic memory, such as main memory of such a computerplatform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copperwire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a bus within acomputer system. Carrier-wave transmission media may take the form ofelectric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such asthose generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media thereforeinclude for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storagemedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data orinstructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer may read programming code or data.Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved incarrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to aprocessor for execution.

Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated orillustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedicationof any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, orequivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recitedin the claims.

It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein havethe ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions withrespect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and studyexcept where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be usedsolely to distinguish one entity or action from another withoutnecessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or orderbetween such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” “including,” or any other variation thereof, are intended tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that comprises or includes a list of elements or steps doesnot include only those elements or steps but may include other elementsor steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “a” or “an” does not,without further constraints, preclude the existence of additionalidentical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises the element.

Unless otherwise stated, any and all measurements, values, ratings,positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are setforth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, areapproximate, not exact. Such amounts are intended to have a reasonablerange that is consistent with the functions to which they relate andwith what is customary in the art to which they pertain. For example,unless expressly stated otherwise, a parameter value or the like mayvary by as much as plus or minus ten percent from the stated amount orrange.

In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in various examples for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed examplesrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, the subject matter to be protected liesin less than all features of any single disclosed example. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subjectmatter.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the bestmode and other examples, it is understood that various modifications maybe made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may beimplemented in various forms and examples, and that they may be appliedin numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein.It is intended by the following claims to claim any and allmodifications and variations that fall within the true scope of thepresent concepts.

What is claimed is:
 1. Eyewear, comprising: a frame; an optical membersupported by the frame; an eyewear display coupled to the opticalmember; an eye tracker; and a processor configured to: display a firstimage on the eyewear display; determine a first portion of the displayedfirst image that a first user is gazing at using the eye tracker; send afirst message to a physically remote device indicating the first portionof the first image that the first user is gazing at; receive a secondmessage from the physically remote device indicating a second portion ofthe same first image that a second user of the physically remote deviceis gazing at; and modify the displayed first image on the eyeweardisplay to indicate the second portion of the first image that thesecond user of the physically remote device is gazing at.
 2. The eyewearof claim 1, wherein the first portion is a first object, and the secondportion is a second object.
 3. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein themodification of the displayed first image on the eyewear displaycomprises highlighting the second portion.
 4. The eyewear of claim 1,wherein the first portion of the first image and the second portion ofthe first image are different.
 5. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to automatically send the first message to thephysically remote device when the first image is viewed by the user. 6.The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured toautomatically receive the second message when the second user views thefirst image.
 7. The eyewear of claim 1, wherein the first image is afirst virtual scene, and the first portion is a first virtual object. 8.An interactive augmented reality method for use with an eyewear devicehaving a frame, an optical member supported by the frame, an eyeweardisplay coupled to the optical member, an eye tracker, and a processor,the processor: displaying a first image on the eyewear display;determining a first portion of the displayed first image that a firstuser is gazing at using the eye tracker; sending a first message to aphysically remote device indicating the first portion of the first imagethat the first user is gazing at; receiving a second message from thephysically remote device indicating a second portion of the same firstimage that a second user of the physically remote device is gazing at;and modifying the displayed first image on the eyewear display toindicate the second portion of the first image that the second user ofthe physically remote device is gazing at.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the first portion is a first object, and the second portion is asecond object.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the modification ofthe displayed first image on the eyewear display comprises highlightingthe second portion.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first portionof the first image and the second portion of the first image aredifferent.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the processorautomatically sends the first message to the physically remote devicewhen the first image is viewed by the user.
 13. The method of claim 8,wherein the processor automatically receives the second message when thesecond user views the first image.
 14. The method of claim 8, whereinthe first image is a first virtual scene, and the first portion is afirst virtual object.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring program code which, when executed, is operative to cause anelectronic processor of an eyewear device having a frame, an opticalmember supported by the frame, an eyewear display coupled to the opticalmember, and an eyewear tracker to perform the steps of: displaying afirst image on the eyewear display; determining a first portion of thedisplayed first image that a first user is gazing at using the eyetracker; sending a first message to a physically remote deviceindicating the first portion of the first image that the first user isgazing at; receiving a second message from the physically remote deviceindicating a second portion of the same first image that a second userof the physically remote device is gazing at; and modifying thedisplayed first image on the eyewear display to indicate the secondportion of the first image that the second user of the physically remotedevice is gazing at.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring program code of claim 15, wherein the first portion is a firstobject, and the second portion is a second object.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code of claim16, wherein the modification of the displayed first image on the eyeweardisplay comprises highlighting the second portion.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code of claim17, wherein the first portion of the first image and the second portionof the first image are different.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing program code of claim 15, wherein theprogram code, when executed, is operative to cause the electronicprocessor to perform the further step of: automatically sending thefirst message to the physically remote device when the first image isviewed by the user.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring program code of claim 15, wherein the program code, whenexecuted, is operative to cause the electronic processor to perform thefurther step of: automatically receiving the second message when thesecond user views the first image.